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A squatis one of the most common of all exercises and for good reason. Squats are the gold standard when it comes to getting a toned butt and thighs. There are also a lot of myths about how to do the perfect squat.

Myth #1 You must brace your core

If you are looking at building strength for everyday life (or as we call it these days functional training) you can’t go walking around bracing your stomach muscles every time you bend your knees. Muscles respond to movements. If you are squatting and getting back pain chances are you are not lengthening your stomach muscles. To naturally lengthen your abs look to the ceiling or lift your arms up as you squat. This will take the pressure off your back and challenge those tummy muscles.

Myth #2 You must keep your knees behind your toe line

The only danger if you let your knees go in front of your toe line is an increase of force on your knee joint. This will only be an issue if you don’t have enough range of motion at your ankles. You will know if that is the case if your heels peel up off the floor as you squat. To overcome this do a few ankle mobilisation exercises before you squat. And focus on keeping a majority of your weight in your heels as you go down.

Myth #3 You shouldn’t go full range

Some people believe that a deep squat puts too much pressure on your spine. However, the truth is we are designed to squat deeply. Problem arise when we don’t have enough range of motion in our hips and our lower back comes into play. Always start with a few hip mobilisationexercises to increase the range of motion and focus on sticking your bottom out as you go down.

As with all exercises the more weight you add to a squat the higher the risk of injury. So make sure your squatting efficiently before loading up with weight.

Greg has made it his fight to bring professionalism back to exercise. With a university degree in Human Movement and working with elite level athletes, Greg’s knowledge and experience is leading the way. Greg is the founder of Better Being, Australia’s only team of university qualified personal trainers delivering health solutions that suit your busy corporate life.
Today, Greg continues to support the health and wellbeing of corporate executives and celebrities. He also educates trainers and regularly contributes to national publications and TV shows including Men’s Health, Sky Business and The Morning Show. Greg was awarded the 2011 Australian Exercise Professional of the Year finalist and is a proud ambassador for lululemon athletica. He has also established a charity, Active Kids, which aims to overcome childhood obesity and physical inactivity in Australia. Greg’s passion is to create ways to inspire, educate and motivate people to build a happy and healthy life.